Where's Rico?
by BigEvilRedDevil
Summary: After a fight with Skipper, Rico is "forced" to stay at Marlene's for a week. After a while, he goes missing. Man, I suck at summaries. All reviews welcomed.
1. Chapter 1

Where's Rico?  
Ch.1- A Problem

For the past couple of days, Skipper and Rico have been getting into some fights after their partner mission. At first, it seemed to be such a small problem, like, they would get over it and become friends again and all of the anger and yelling would end. Weeks later, the issue seem to become even worse. Skipper had threatend to put Rico on prohibation if he didn't clean up his act and to stop denying Skipper's "facts". Private hoped that these two would make up and also hoped that it won't get any worse than it was. He was wrong...

Private was watching Tv, actually, he was trying to watch TV. The shouts and yells coming from Skipper and Rico were drowning out Private's show. He jumped everytime he heard Skipper's booming voice echo throughout the inner sector, and his skin would crawl with fear when he heard Rico yelled. Probably because Rico rarely yelled, but it was a sound he would not forget. Private's heart skipped a beat when he heard Skipper pound his flipper on the table.

"Well, at least I'm not some kind of psycho, who think explosions are the ONLY answer!" Skipper yelled at his weapons expert.

"Dera-Rajkde-Mad!" Rico commented back, while crossing his flippers.

Skipper was in shock that those words came out of Rico's mouth. "Power mad?" He yelled out.

Private looked away from the Tv and right at Kowalski, hoping he would want to talk. Kowalski looks at Private, then shakes his head in a irratited way. He grabs his notebook from the shelf and walks to his lab. Private looked back at Rico and Skipper, then looked at the door of the lab. He decide to get up and inside the lab to have a talk with Kowalski.

"Kowalski?" Private asked as he entered the room.

"I know, Private." Kowalski said, not looking away from his notebook.

"I don't get it! They were like brothers! Closer than brothers! Why are they fighting? I can't stand this..." Private said.

Kowalski puts a arm around Private, trying to comfort him. "I don't like this either, Private. But, I'm 99.7% certain that they are going to get over this little mess."

"I surely hope so... I don't want them hurting each other or anything..." Private said while wiping eyes.

"Hey." Kowalski said, then pat's Private's back. "They won't do anything to each other. Like you said, they're closer than brothers, nothing is going to seperate that closeness. It's just a fight, they'll get over it."

"Yeah." Private said.

"I don't hear anymore yelling. I think you get watch your shows in peace." Kowalski said.

"Ok." Private answered and left the lab.

When Private came out of the lab, he heard the Fishbowl slam shut, and saw Skipper looking down at the floor, shaking his head slowly.

"Oh, dear..." Private mumbled. "Skippah?"

"What is it, Private?" Skipper asked, still looking at the floor.

"Uh... What's going on? Where's Rico?" Private asked nervously.

Skipper sighed and turned to Private, looking tired and uneasy

"I gave him a Shore Grant Leave for a week. He's at Marlene's." Skipper stated.

Private looked around nervously, then got the guts to ask.

"Why are you guys fighting"?

"I don't want to talk about it. It was just a stupid fight." Skipper said.

"Why did you send him away? Can't you talk about it, and just end it?" Private asked angery.

"I sent him away because-!" Skipper stopped himself when he saw Private's face turn into fear. He took a deep breath, to try to take some of the stress away. "We just need some time away from each other. I think he needs time to relax and time to clear his mind. Same with me."

"Oh." Private said quietly.

"He'll be back." Skipper said while patting Private's back.


	2. Chapter 2

Where's Rico?  
Ch.2-Welcome!

"Welcome to Suite Marlene's!" Marlene exclaimed proudly, stretching her arms wide open. "Can I help you with your bags? ...even though you didn't bring any..." She added with a nervous chuckle.

Rico just stood there with a blank stare. It was obvious he wasn't in the mood for jokes. Funny or lame.

Marlene broke the awkward silence by clearing her throat and speaking again. "Uh, wow. Can I get you anything?"

Rico shakes his head.

"Oh." Marlene said. Then, she thought she could cheer up the crazed penguin by being upright and cheerful. "Well... do YOU want to do anything? Come on, it can be anything! It's all up to you, my main man!"

"Sleep." Rico mumbled.

"Y-you want to sleep? OK, follow me. I got a room set up just for you!" Marlene proudly stated.

Rico slowly follows Marlene to "his" room.

"Here it is!" Marlene said. "A room just for you!"

Rico looks around the room, not knowing what to think. He spots the bed and decides to lay down on it and cover himself in the blankets.

"So, I'll be in my room... painting. If you need me, that is." Marlene said nervously.

"Mm." Rico dully responded.

"So... uh, night, Rico." Marlene said.

"Night." Rico grunted.

It took awhile, but Marlene finished her painting. She looked at it, proud of her and made she didn't miss any spots. She started to pick up her art supplies and went over to the sink to wash the bushes, but she was cut off when she heard someone knock on her door.

"Oh. Hi there, Private." Marlene said.

"Hi, Marlene." Private responded, with his head hanging down slightly. "Is Rico here?"

"Yeah, he's here... but he's sleeping." Marlene said.

"Oh." Private said with a little shock in his voice. "Well, I just wanted to see how he was doing...but, I guess I'll stop by in the morning."

"Yeah, sure. Stop by anytime." Marlene happily said.

"Thanks, Marlene." Private said, then walked back to the penguin habitat.

Marlene looks at the clock and sees that it's getting late. She decides to get ready for bed, but before the lights go out, she hears someting that sounds like sniffling. After a few second of hear the sound, she decides to try find the source of the sound. It seemed to be comming from the room Rico was in. When she was about to asked Rico if he was ok, she realized that he seemed to be sound asleep. "Eh, I'll ask him in the morning." she thought to herself and went to bed.

A/N- In my opinion, this chapter is not as good, but it's better than nothing. Hope you enjoy.


	3. Chapter 3

Where's Rico?  
Chapter 3- Frustration?

"Rise and Shine, boys!" Skipper shouted out, standing next to the bunks with his trademark mug in his flipper.

Like usual, Private was the first one up whenever he heard his commanding officer telling them to wake up.

"Uh, what's going on, Skippah?" Private asked, while wiping a flipper over one eye.

"You should know, Private." Skipper answered, looking at his mug while stirring the fish inside.

Private thought for a little bit. It didn't seem that they were under attack, because was Skipper was calm and wasn't shouting out orders. He knew they weren't going to get sno cones because they didn't do anything to deserve some kind of reward. Private quickly looked at the clock, it was 5:00 in the morning. Training? No, it couldn't be. It was way too early to do stuff like that. They didn't even had their breakfast.

"Uh..." Private said nervously, then shugged his shoulders and smiled, hoping Skipper wouldn't get too mad.

With an angry sigh, Skipper said, "At 0500,what happens?"

"Uh... sleep time?" Private said nervously.

With another angry sigh, Skipper ordered Kowalski to explain what was going to happen.

"We go up top." Kowalski said, but it was kinda hard to understand because he was mosty mumbling it.

"And?" Skipper said.

"We do combat drills... and-" Kowalski muttered, not finishing his sentence.

"Right." Skipper said, with a little nod at Kowalski, then looked at Private. "Now, how could you forget that, Private?"

"I dunno, sir." Private said, but his voice got shaky when he asked his question, probably from nervousness. "What about Rico?"

"What about him?" Skipper asked.

Private started to feel guilty about asking that question. He thought that it was a little early to mention Rico's name in front of Skipper.

"Uh, we're doing this without him?" Private asked.

"Gunna have to, Private." Skipper said. "Now, you two, up top. Pronto!"

Otter habitat-

"Ding-a-Ling, Rico!" Said happily.

Rico woke up, looking around the room not remembering where he was until he wiped his eyes and remember what happended.

"Oh." Rico muttered to himself.

"Rico?" Marlene said.

Rico heard the voice and quickly turned his head to the direction of the sound and saw Marlene standing in the doorway.

"Come on, time to get up!" She said, still sounding cheerful.

"Timeisit?" Rico asked, hoping she would understand that.

"It's 7:30, Sleepy head!" Marlene said with a little chuckle.

Rico made a sound that sounded like a grumble, and turned away from the direction of Marlene and pulled the covers over his head.

Marlene walked up and pulled the covers off of Rico. "Oh, come on Rico! Can't be laying in bed all day. I made you breakfast and eveything." She said.

Rico turned to Marlene with a small smile formed. "Feesh?" He asked.

"Yup." Marlene said. "And I made bacon glazed with honey."

"Uh... Ok." Rico said while getting out of bed.

"Great!" Marlene shouted. Come on, it's all ready for you."

Rico shook his head abit to wake himself up and followed Marlene.

Penguin Habitat-

"Great work, team! Could've been better, but it's good enough." Skipper said.

"Can we have our break now, sir?" Private asked with deep breaths.

Kowalski stood up next to Private. "I'm with Private, Skipper. We've... been been working out for 2 1/2 hours... nonstop. We need a break..."

Skipper lets out a frustrated sigh, "Fine. You wanna rest your fragile bones? Go ahead."

"Thank you, Ski-"

Private is cut off by Skipper's voice. "30 Minute cooldown. Then, it's back to work."

"What?" Private said, with a little shock in his voice.

"Now, Skipper, can't you give us a long break? I mean, you're kinda wearing us down and soon, one of us is going to crash. Also, it's too early to feel this tired." Kowalski stated.

"Negative." Skipper said, dully. "Now, I expect you two to be back inside in 30 minutes. I want to try something new during this combat training."

"Roger that." Kowalski and Private said while saluting their leader.

"Good." Skipper said, then went down the fish bowl.

Private turns to Kowalski and sees that it looks like he wanted to smack Skipper around with his notebook. The sound of Private's voice seemed to snap him out of his thoughts.

"I don't like the attitude Skipper has, Kowalski." Private said

"I know." Kowalski answered. "It's just as bad when Skipper lost his mug... but BIGGER!"

"Do you think he's still frustrated at Rico?" Private asked, with concern.

Kowalski thought about it for a little bit. He thought he should bring out his notebook, but he knew it didn't need that much thinking.

"Could be..." Kowalski said, with his flipper under his chin. "But I wouldn't worry about it too much. We just got to give him time, and maybe some space."

"I guess. So, What do you want to do?" Private asked.

"Well, I'm going to be over here, going to go over my notes. What are you going to do.? Kowalski said.

"Dunno." Private said. "Probably gunna go visit Rico."

Kowalski looks up from his notebook from shook. "Visit who?" he asked.

"Visit Rico." Private said, like there was nothing wrong with that.

"Private... you do know that's against Skipper's rules, right?" Kowalski asked.

"It is?" Private asked. "Well, he didn't mind yesterday."

"He didn't?" Kowalski asked, with a little disbelief.

"Well, I kinda left when you two were sleeping..." Private said nervously.

"If I were you," Kowalski said to Private. "I would leave Rico alone. Don't want Skipper more crabby then he is."

Private sighed a little. "Good point, Kowalski.

For the last minutes of their break, Kowalski stood in silence, looking at his notes, every now and then he mutters to himself. Private sat at the edge of the habitat, waiting for time to fly by so that they can get back to work. They both knew the break was over with when they heard Skipper's bark to tell them to get back inside. Private gave Kowalski a nervous look. When Kowalski saw the look, he patted Private's head, trying to tell him everything's going to be alright.


	4. Chapter 4

Where's Rico?  
Ch.4- The Frustration Continues

WARNING! LONG CHAPTER

Kowalski and Private hop back inside the HQ and see their leader standing in front of them, with a faint smile formed on his face. Kowalski and Private had a feeling that they were not going to enjoy this new training program. A few seconds of awkward silence passed. Kowalski cleared his throat and decided to speak up.

"So... what is this new training program, sir?"

Skipper smiled a little more and pointed down to a piece of lumber that was at his side. "I want you two on this board, pronto." He said, with a little monotone in his voice.

The two penguins looked at the board in confusion for a second , then look up at Skipper, and realize that it looked like he was getting annoyed. That faint smile was turning into a snarl and his brow was beginning to lower. They look at each other, still confused, but they followed the order. Don't want to push Skipper any further. Who knows what kind of punishment there will be...

"Good." Skipper strictly said. "Stand in a comfortable position, boys. You're going to be there for awhile."

"Can do." Kowalski responded.

"Is this all Skippah?" Private asked.

"Negetive, Private." Skipper answered. "I'm going to repeat a song off of a CD over and over again until you're done with this exercise."

"Uh, what song is it sir?" Private questioned again.

"Animal Farm." Skipper said, gazing right into Private's eyes.

"Sir, I don't mean to speak out of term, but wouldn't the repetitive of this song get us annoyed?" Kowalski asked.

Skipper chuckled a little bit, then turned to face Kowalski. "To you, maybe."

"Um... how is this... 'Training', Skippah?" Private asked.

"You'll find out soon." Skipper said. "When this song plays, think of every wrong deed that you've done."

"Skip-?" Private started to ask, but was cut off by Skipper.

"Private! That was an order."

Private lets out a deep sigh and mumbles "Yes, sir."

When the song started, Private knew that he wasn't going to enjoy this "new" exercise. He also realized that this song wasn't Skipper's type of music. It was too loud, and the lyrics sounded like they were way too angry. This wasn't Skipper's type of music at all. Private took a quick glance at Kowalski. It looked like he was taking in the music. Is he enjoying this? Private thought to himself. Or is he trying to analyze this song and try to connect it with Skippah's behavior? Private looks at Skipper, and sees him standing across the room smirking at them with his flippers crossed.

Otter Habitat-

When Rico finished his breakfast, Marlene thought it would be a good idea if they did something fun together, instead of staying inside and have her do all of the talking and have Rico nod along, or have one word responses. She looks at Rico and sees him looking back at her.

"So, uh... Rico." Marlene said, nervously. "Do you want to, uh... play a little... never mind."

Marlene looks away from Rico, probably a little embarresarsed about not finishing her sentence. She looks at Rico in the the corner of her eye, and noticed that he is still staring at her. The star makes her a little nervous, but she decided to ignore the feeling and tries to start another conversation.

"So, this is fun..." She said with a nervous chuckle. "Anything you would like to do?"

Rico thought for a few seconds, and answered "I dunno."

Marlene lets out of a sigh of boredom. "You don't know? Well, we gotta think of something fun to do if we want our week together to be fun and enjoyable!"

Rico smiles and regurgitates a stick of dynamite. "Kaboom?" He asked hopefully and his eyes begin to widen.

"Uh, yeah. No, I don't think that would be a good idea, Rico. Skipper wouldn't really like it if I allowed that." Marlene said in a calm tone.

"D'awww..." Rico groaned and swallowed the stick of dynamite.

"Sorry." Marlene said.

"S'OK." Rico grunted.

Marlene had a feeling that it was time to ask Rico about last night. She had a uneasy feeling, but again, she decided to ignore the feeling and get the question out of the way.

"Rico, did you hear a... strange sound last night?"

"Stange sound?" Rico mumbled

"Yeah, sounded like, I dunno, like, sniffling coming from the room you're using." Marlene said.

Rico hung his head down in shame and made a sound that sounded like a whine moan put together. "Will talk... about that... later." Rico said, but it sounded like he had a little trouble saying those words.

Marelene was kinda surprised to hear Rico almost speak in a complete sentence, but she respected his decision. " can talk later todayif that's what you want." She said with a smile.

Rico regurgitated a baseball and smiled at Marlene. "Catch?" he asked.

"Yeah, OK! We can do thst." Marlene responded, then she and Rico headed outside.

Penguin Habitat-

It's about an hour later, Skipper decided to turn off the music. Private hoped that this exercise was over with.

"Pop quiz, troops!" Skipper shouted out. "What was that song about?"

"Uh, What's that Skippah?" Private asked, he really didn't want to answer because this "new" side of Skipper was really starting to bother him.

"I ask again, Private..." Skipper said with a hint of irritation in his voice. "What was that song about?"

"Uh, Dunno. I couldn't understand that much. Too much yelling and shouting." Private said.

Skipper gave Private a cold look and was about to say something, but Kowalski spoke first.

"Sir, I believe that the song is anti-war. I also believe that the lead singer is trying to get his point across about how the local government-"

"Yeah, sure. Close enough." Skipper said, cutting of Kowalski. "Private, what were the beginning lyrics?"

Private felt a little nervous. He knew the beginning part, but the rest. He was hoping that Skipper wouldn't make him repeat the lyrics. He had enough of that song.

"Uh, listen up, you stinking mag-"

"StinkIN'" Kowalski corrected Private.

"Oh." Private said, then continued the rest. "You stinkin' maggots... it seems you just don't get it-"

"You can understand that, but not the rest?" Skipper asked dully.

"Guess so." Private said.

"Alright..." Skipper said, it seemed like he was thinking of something.

"Skippah?" Private asked, but Skipper didn't hear it.

"Alright. I'm going to do some recon. You boys have the day off."

"You're serious?" Kowalski asked.

"Yup." Skipper said and left the HQ.

"This should be a good thing." Kowalski said. "His time alone might help him lose some steam and calm down a little, and he'll probably be back to his old self."

"Hopefully." Private mumbled.

Yeah, kind of a odd way to end a chapter. Couldn't thing of anyway else to end it. Sorry about the long update, computer's been acting like a P.o.S. lately, hoping that we get it fixed soon.

.com/watch?v=dgFjkNR0Ej8 -there's the song that was mentioned in this chapter.  
WARNING! THERE IS A LOT OF YELLING AND MILD SWEARING, SO IF YOU CHOOSE TO GIVE THIS SONG A CHANCE, MIGHT WANT TO TURN DOWN YOUR SPEAKERS :D

.com/watch?v=zlB-LkXVvoA - Live version. Audio is a little "bleh" but you should be able to understand it. HEADS UP! this version contain no yelling, but bluesy-rockish stuff. (They changed their musical ways, long story) so if you don't like yelling, you MIGHT like the way they preform these days. I DO! even though, I like their older stuff a little more. but oh well :D


	5. Chapter 5

Where's Rico?  
Ch.5- Unexpected Changes

"I'm telling you! He never stays out this late!" Private shouted at Kowalski while pacing around.

"Private, calm down. I'm 97% sure that Sk-"

"Calm down? Private shouted back in frustration. "Kowalski, when was the last time we've seen him?"

"11 hours ago." Kowalski replied dully.

"Exactly! Who knows? He could be in danger, hurt, or even... dead."

When Private said that Skipper could be dead, he felt anger shoot right inside his body. He wasn't really sure how it happened, it was probably from frustration or it could be from Private's actions. He wanted to hold in his anger so that he wouldn't upset the little bird even more. He decided to let it out, wasn't the best decsion with Private, but it wasn't very healthy to hold it in.

"Private!" Kowalski yelled out and slammed his flippers on the table at the same time. "Don't ever say that! You got me? Stop worrying about every single thing! Skipper is fine!

Kowalski sat down and rubbed his flippers on his head to calm himself down. Then looked back at Private, who was looking around nervously.

"I gotta go find him." Private said and turned and walked to the ladder, but Kowalski came from behind him and "forced" him to sit on the ground.

"No, you're not." Kowalski said, you could still hear the anger in his voice. "You're going to sit right here, and and wait for Skipper's return."

"When's that going to be, Kowalski?" Private asked, looking right into Kowalski's eyes.

Kowalski thought from a quick second, then answer"I'm not exaxctly sure."  
"Kowalski? I wanna to apologize for my behavior." Private said, still looking into Kowalski's eyes.

"That's quite alright." Kowalski said with a nod.

"I don't know what came over me. I think I need some fresh air or something."

"We both need fresh air, Private. Let's go."

Kowalski and Private climb up the ladder to get fresh air that they wanted. When they got to the top of their habitat, Private letted out a loud gasp of shock when they saw who was on top with them.

"SKIPPAH?" Private shouted in shock.

"Oh, hello boys." Skipper said calmly, it was like he didn't know he was gone for 11 hours and it was also like he had forgotten his random anger issues he had with Kowalski and Private.

Private ran up to skipper like he was going to give a brotherly hug, but he stopped in front of Skipper and slapped him acrossed the face.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" He shouted out.

"Recon."Skipper simply said while holding the left side of face where Private had slapped him.

"For 11 hours?" Kowalski asked. "That's highly unlikely, sir."

"Seriously, Skippah, where did you go? You had us worried!" Private said.

"I went to do recon duty, Private. That's all."

Private and Kowalski had a feeling that Skipper wasn't going to tell them anything else. So they just gave up and went with what Skipper said he did. Recon.

"Alright, Skipper. You were doing recon." Kowalski said. "You got any activities for us to do since you're back?"

"Yeah, I got a little something that will make you two happy. Especially Private. This might be a little hard on me, but I'll have to try to get over it."

"What is it, Skippah?" Private asked with excitment in his voice.

"Well, I felt kinda bad giving you two attitudes and unecessary assignments. So, I decided, as a reward for putting up with my actions, we should go visit our scarred brother." Skipper said with a smile forming.

"Where going to visit him?" Private asked.

"What about your rule, Skipper?" Kowalski asked firmly.

"Forget about the rule. Let's head out."

With that order, the three of them head off to Marlene's, Private was in front because he was very excited to see Rico. When they got to her habitat, Skipper thought it would be a good idea that they would enter one at a time so that it doesn't surprise Rico "too much". Out of everyday activity, Marlene walked outside and saw the three penguins standing outside her home.

"What are you doing here?" She questioned them.

"Depends." Skipper said with a stern look. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

"Oh, right."

"Where here to see Rico!" Private said with excitment. "Is he busy at all?"

Marlene chuckled a little bit "Nope, he's just cleaning up a little. Go ahead."

"Go get 'im, Private." Skipper said.

Right away, Private ran inside shouting out Rico's name happily. Marlene laughed, and walked back inside her home.

"Rico! Rico!"

"Huh?" Rico asked himself, then turned around and saw Private running up to him. At first, he thought Private or his team were in danger, but when he felt Private's flippers wrap around him and felt his head lay on his chest, he knew there was nothing to worry about.

When Marlene saw Private give Rico that loving hug, she could feel how Private had missed him. She wasn't too sure about Kowalski or Skipper though. She hoped that Skipper and Rico wouldn't get into another fight. Marlene saw Rico return the hug and she also saw the happiness and love on his face, she chuckled and said to herself; 'Gooey Love Mush Sensitivity? Yeah, sure.'

"How you doing Rico? Are you having fun here?" Private asked.

Rico thought for a second, then looked at Marlene, she nodded her head and smiled at him. She had a feeling she knew what was thinking of.

"Uh-huh!" He answered proudly.

"Good! That's good to hear. Hopefully, this week will go by faster. It's been lonely without you back at home."

"The week's going by pretty fast once you think about it, Private." Kowalski said, while walking up to Rico. "Private is right though. We do miss you. Skipper's been acting a little... well, harsh towards us. I believe it's from guilt."

"Guilt?" Rico questioned.

"Affermative."

"He's been making us do some odd activities, and been us attitudes." Private said. "When you come back, everything will back to normal I hope."

"Mmm." Rico muttered out, then saw Skipper walking in. The happiness that he felt disappeared in a second. The look on his face turned into pure anger.

"hey Rico, how's it going?"

Rico didn't answer, he just stared at Skipper with that psychopathic glare. Skipper just ignored the stare and turned to Marlene.

"So, Marlene, has he blown anything up yet?"

Marlene felt a little uncomfortable, but she answered the question. "Uh, not really, no. Skipper, don't start anything. I don't want any shouting in my-"

Well, Rico... it sounds like you can control yourself." Skipped said, hoping it would lighten up Rico. He noticed that Rico's face filled with more anger. "...It was a joke, Rico."

"Kind of a 'uncalled for joke' Skipper." Kowalski pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess so." Skipper said. "Tell me, Rico. Are you enjoying your stay here?"

Rico stares at Skipper for a little bit longer, then answers "yup." in a dark voice. Skipper gets the hint, and decides that it was time to leave. They could visit him some other time.

"Can we come back tomorrow, Skippah?" Private asked.

"We'll see. Let's just go home and watch movies or whatever."

When the three penguins left, Marlene saw that Rico was still staring at the place Skipper was at. This gets Marlene a little nervous.

"Rico?" She asked with her hands cupped nervously.

A/N- It's funny, story's called "Where's Rico?", and Skipper goes missing XD ...I thought it was funny :P!  
Anywho, computer's a little better, still a P.o.S. though, so I'll be able to update stuff quicker. And yes, Rico will go missing soon I just wanted to stall you in a entertaining/odd way 8D

I'll try to get the next chapter up next week or so. Enjoy :D! 


	6. Chapter 6

Where's Rico?  
Ch.6

"Rico? What's wrong?" Marlene asked, but seemed like the sound of her voice wasn't getting to Rico. She even yelled out his name, but he didn't flinch or twitched a bit. She whispered out his name and her paw on his back. Instantly, his snapped up and looked back at Marlene. His face was full of concern.

"Rico... what's wrong?" Rico noticed that her voice was slightly cracked. He felt ashamed, making one of his friends upset.

"Are you Ok?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, fine." Rico answered with a fake smile, but he could tell that she wasn't buying it.

"No, you're not." She firmly stated. "I saw that look you gave Skipper. Tell me what happened. Why are you not getting along anymore?"

Rico moaned a little, while lowering his head down. A second later, he regurgitated a notebook and a marker. Marlene was surprised. The only penguin and the only animal she knew that could write was Kowalski. She could be the first one to see Rico write something down.

"You can write?"

"Not good." Rico muttered out and gave her the note.

'Disobeyed'

"You disobeyed?" Marlene asked, she was still surprised about his 'new' ability. "How?" She hands the notebook back to him. she watched Rico write in his notebook, it seemed that it took him a couple of minutes. 'He must be going into detail' Marlene thought to herself. Rico gives the note back to Marlene, she was surprised of how much he wrote. Even though there was spelling and grammer mistakes, but that didn't really matter.

'Alone with Skiper Kowalski and Pvt doin recon. Skiper wanted to be a secret. Made u a statchew of u. He went 2 do personel thing, told me 2 gard tha statchew with my life. No 1 enters and didnt want me playin with fire. He left. Got bord, got flamethrower and wanted sumthin fun 2 do. shot out short bersts, got 2 xcited and pulled trigger 2 hard by statchew. it burned. Skiper saw, got angry. thats how fight began.'

When Marlene finished reading the note, she looks over and sees Rico down at the ground shamefully. "This is why he's upset with you?"

"Yup."

"Well, I can see why he would get angry, but Skipper-"

"Hate me?"

"Who? Skipper?"

Rico nodded slowly.

"No! no, he doesn't hate you! He might be upset now, but he doesn't hate you. When they came to visit you eariler today, Skipper seemed to be-"

"You hate?"

"Rico, no one hates you. It was an accident. He WILL get over this. Don't feel so guilty about it."

Rico shrugs his shoulders and walks to the entrance.

"Where are you doing" Marlene asked him.

"Walk." Rico grunted.

"Well, ok. You need anyone with you?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Oh. Have fun!" Marlene sais, trying to sound like her upbeat self.

"OK." Rico said and walked out.

Penguin Habitat-

"Skippah... are you alright?" Private asked. He was worried about his leader. He hasn't said a single word since they came back.

"Maybe it's best to leave him alone." Kowalski said.

"Just wondering, Kowalski."

"I'll be fine, Private." Skipper said.

"You sure, Skippah"?

"I'm sure." Skipper said, the walks to the ladder, but is stopped by Private.

"Where are you going, sir?" Private asked with a nervous smile on his face.

"I'm not going disappear again, Private."

"Really, Skippah? Because I don't-"

"I'm getting our brother back."

Right after Skipper said that, Private's face filled with joy, and he steps away from the ladder to let Skipper pass. Skipper smiles at Private, then climbs up the ladder and heads to Marlene's.

"Marlene!"

Marlene turned her head to the entrance, and say Skipper walking up to her. Oh, hi Skipper. You need something?"

"I need to talk to Rico."

"Uh, Rico's not here. He went for a walk."

"Oh. Well, when he comes back, tell him I want to talk."

"Skipper, I don't think he's ready to talk to you yet."

"Maybe. I just need to aplogize to him."

"Alright, I'll tell him."

"Thanks, Marlene." Skipper turns around, but stops when he hears Marlene say something he didn't quite understand.

"Say what, now?" Skipper asked.

"Thanks for the gift." Marlene repeated herself.

"He told you, huh?" Skipper asked with a little smile on his face.

"Yeah."

"Yep."

Marlene couldn't help herself, she needed a hug from someone. And that someone was Skipper. When she wrapped her arms around him, he was confused, but he decided to give in and wrap his flippers around her. Rico was coming back from his walk. For unknown reasons, he kept thinking of Marlene. It was starting to bother him. Was he falling in love with her? No... that can be it, if he was, she probably wouldn't take him. They were too different for each other. Maybe he was feeling guilty that the stress was getting to her. Yeah, that could it. He regurgitated some flowers for her. As he walked in the entrance, he saw Skipper and Marlene hugging, he also felt the anger starting to boil in him. He tosses the flowers in Marlene's pond, and walks out of the zoo.


	7. Chapter 7

Where's Rico?  
Ch.7

"Skippah! You're back!" Private shouted happily, then he realized Skipper didn't look happy, but he looked disappointed. "He's not coming back, is he Skippah?"

"No, no, no." Skipper said. "He's coming said that he was taking a walk. I'll go back in a few hours."

"Oh, OK." Private said, the sees Skipper climbing into bed. "Uh, are you going to bed already, sir?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Oh. Do you want me and Kowalski to do anything for you?

"No, not really. Just keep it down, OK?"

"OK, Skippah." Private said, then turned his head to the TV and seees that his show is on. "Ooh! My Show!" Private happily hops to the TV set to watch his show.

After his show was over, Private looks at the clock. It was only an hour later. It didn't feel like an hour to him, but it didn't really matter to him. The thing that matters to him is that he has nothing to now. He looks at Skipper and sees that he's in a deep sleep. Then he walks inside Kowalski's lab to see Kowalski wants to do anything with him.

"Hey Kowalski! Whatcha doing?" Private asked.

"I have no idea..."

"Oh. Well, do you want to do swim laps with me?"

"Sorry, Private. I'm too busy right now. prehaps later?"

"Yeah, sure."

Private walks out of the lab and hears something on the TV. He looks over and sees that it was an advertisement about explosions. It's Rico's favorite commercial.

"Rico, Look!" Private said, and did a little hop from excitement. "It's that commercial you love!"

Private looks around, and doesn't see Rico. He only sees Skipper sleeping on the top bunk. "Oh, yeah..." He muttered to himself. He thought to himself that he should go to Marlene's to see if Rico returned. The only thing he worried about going is that Skipper wouldn't know. He didn't want to give his leader a scare if he woke not know where Private was. He could tell Kowalski, but he didn't want to bother him. Private decided to over at Marlene's, but he leaves a note for Skipper. Just incase.

When Private got to Marlene's, he saw her pacing around like she was waiting for someone. Private had a feeling he knew who she was waiting for.

"Hi, Private! What's up?" Marlene asked.

"Not much. How about yourself?"

"Oh, I'm just getting ready for bed." She said, then takes a quick glance at the enterance.

"This early?" Private asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yeah, It's a little tiring waiting for Rico." She laughs a little. "I think I'm acting like a worried mother. I'm sure he'll be back soon."

"So, He's not back yet?"

Marlene lets out a sigh. "No. But like I said, He'll be back soon. Right?"

"I hope so. I miss him."

"I know you do."

There is a minute or two of silence, then Marlene spoke up.

"Ok, I've got an idea. If I'm still up when Rico comes back, I'll come get you. Then you two can stay up all night and do whatever. Not a very detailed plan, but whaddya think? I'm sure Skipper will be OK with it."

"Yeah! Sounds like a plan to me."

Marlene walks Private out of her home, then watches him belly-slide to the penguin habitat. Right after she saw Private disapperared through the entrance, something caught her eye. She looks at her pond and sees the flowers. She picks them, then looks around. There was no one around, and she knows that Private didn't put them there. Marlene decided not to worry about it, and walks back inside. 


	8. Chapter 8

Where's Rico?  
Ch. 8

Private returns to the inside of the penguin habitat. He looks at the bunks to see if Skipper was still sleeping. And he was. And the note that he left was there too. Then he realizes that Kowalski is laying on his bunk. Private walks up to Kowalski and starts to shake a liitle to see if he's up.

"Kowalski? Are you asleep?" Private asked.

Kowalski mutters something out that Private didn't understand, but he decides to shake Kowalski again.

"Kowalski, Are you really sleeping?" Private asked again.

Once again, Kowalski mutters something that wasn't understandable, and turns away from Private to the wall.

Private looks at the clock that was on the wall. '8:57 PM'

"Wow. They must be exhausted." Private said to himself. Then he walks to the TV and flips through the channels. To him, there is nothing on. He looks back at Kowalski and Skipper to see if they're still sleeping. Then he starts to feel sleepy.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt if I lay down for a little bit." Private said to himself, then he lays down on his bed and listens to the sound of Kowalski's and Skipper's light snoring.

Fifteen minutes later, Private decides to get out of bed. He didn't want to fall asleep. He wanted to make sure that he was awake when Marlene came. He walks into Kowalski's lab to see if there was anything that would be interesting to him. He looks at Kowalski's desk and sees some of Kowalski's notes. Private picks them up and tries to understand what Kowalski wrote down, but there was too many formulas and equations. It made his head hurt. He puts the notes back on the desk, and realizes there is a box underneath the desk. He opens the box to see what was inside. At first, it mostly was old mission files and more of Kowalski's notes. He digs deeper and finds some photos, they are photos that they took when they went to a vacation. He flips through the pictures, remembering the memories that were there.

He notices there are more pictures in the box. He takes them out, and sees that they are pictures of Rico. As he went through them, he felt his eyes start to water. He wasn't really sure why, he didn't die or anything, he knew that Rico would be coming back in a couple days. Its got to be the feeling of missing him.  
Private puts everything that he took out back inside the box and puts it back under the desk. He returns to the main room, and lays down on his bed again. He hears something coming from outside. It sounds like... rain.

"Great." Private muttered out. He knew that Marlene wasn't going to come over now. He didn't really care. He was hoping that Rico got back safe and sound.

"Tomorrow, I am going to see Rico, and NOTHING is going to stop me." Private said to himself.

Right after Private said that, a loud crash of thunder came and it make Private yelp in fear, it wasn't loud enough to wake up Kowalski or Skipper though.

Private lets out a sigh of sadness. He really wishes that Rico was there now. Everytime the thunder would scare him, Rico would always try to comfort him. For unknown reasons, Rico would show a softer side when there was a storm. Private thought he show it more often because it was nice to know that he cares about his brothers.  
Private wipes a tear from his cheek, gets off his bed again and climbed onto Rico's, and fell asleep seconds later.

A/N- Had this scene in my head for quite some time, and I thought it would fit the story a little. Hope you guys enjoyed it, I had fun writing it! :p 


	9. Chapter 9

Where's Rico?

Ch. 9- He's missing?

Skipper woke up from his nap around 1:30 AM. He sits up on his bed for a bit so he could have a chance to wake up a little more. After he woke up more, he hops out of bed and for some reason, he looks back at the bunks. Maybe it's a habit he picked up every time he wakes up. He sees that Kowalski is sleeping a deep sleep. He could tell because Kowalski's flipper was hanging off the side of his bed and there was a huge glob of drool coming out of his mouth.

Skipper looks down at Rico's bed and sees Private curled up, like he was cold. He grabs his own blanket and covers Private with it, then climbs up the ladder and heads to Marlene's place.

Otter Habitat-

Skipper was standing at the entrance, thinking if it was a going to be a good idea to walk in just to see if Rico was back at this time. He walks in, but told himself that he was going to be quiet as possible so that he doesn't wake up Marlene.

He looks all over inside the habitat, he also checked outside around the habitat. He went back inside to do another sweep, and again, didn't see Rico. Skipper turns to the entrance to walk back home, but somehow he stepped wrong, and tripped himself, causing a loud thud that wakes Marlene.

She shot up from her bed. "Rico?"

"Uh, it's me Marlene." Skipper said while getting back up.

"Skipper?" Marlene asked, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark.

"Affirmative."

"What are you doing here?" Marlene asked as she was getting out of bed and walked to his direction.

"I was, uh, seeing if Rico was here." Skipper said.

"Well, is he?

Skipper takes a breath. "It doesn't seem like it."

Marlene literally shoots off her bed. "WHAT? He's not? We've got to find him!" She hastily runs to her entrance, but Skipper grabs onto her arm, and turns her around so that she is facing him.

"I agree with you, Marlene. But, this is a job for professionals. You should go back to sleep."

"How can I sleep at a time like this?" Marlene questioned.

"I know it'll be hard, but you need your sleep." Skipper answered.

"Yeah, but-"

Skipper shakes his head. "No 'buts' Marlene." Skipper said. "My men and I will handles this. We'll find him."

"You promise?" Marlene asked.

"I promise." Skipper said, as he led her back to the bed.

Skipper watches Marlene climb back into bed. He sees that Marlene's eyes are full of hope. "I promise." Skipper said the slid back to the penguin habitat. Skipper enters and sees Kowalski and Private are still sleeping peacefully. He wanted to wake them up to go look for Rico, but a part of him told that he should leave them alone. He leaves them alone for right now and walks in Kowalski's lab and writes down plans of how they are going to find Rico.

Hours later, Skipper is done with his plans, which were pretty basic, but he wanted to take his time on them. He walks out of Kowalski's lab and looks at the clock in the main room. It's 4:30 AM. Probably it's still a little too early to wake up his men. He makes himself a pot of coffee, then heads up the ladder to the habitat.

He looks up at the sky and thinks of the many moments that he's had with Rico. He also thinks of the brotherly memories he also had with him. _He might be psychotic, but he has a heart too._ Skipper told himself. He stays outside for a couple of minutes, and then decides to wake his team so that they can go find their missing brother.

A/N- Sorry that this chapter seemed too short or seemed too rushed or something like that. To tell you the truth, I was extremely tired when I wrote this and I wanted to get this chapter done. So, I hope you enjoyed this one :D. I'm working on the next chapter, and will put it up ASAP


	10. Chapter 10

Where's Rico?  
Ch.10-The search is a-go!

"But it's too early..." Private moaned out while he wiped his eyes.

"You heard me, Private." Skipper said, "Come on, on your feet solider." Private slowly gets out of his bed and stands in front of his leader with his head lowering slightly from tiredness. Skipper smiles at Private, then looks up at Kowalski's bunk and sees that he's still lying in bed."Kowalski, you up?" He asked.

"Affirmative, Skipper." Kowalski responded with a yawn.

"Good." Skipper said, "Meet up at the table, I've got something for us to do."

Kowalski climbs out of bed and follows Skipper to the table area. Private slowly stumbles towards them. They look at the table and they see papers with word written on them.  
"What's going on, Skippah?" Private asked, then wipes his eyes again.

"I'll get to that." Skipper said. "When I woke up from my nap this morning, I decided to do some recon." Skipper stops to see they were listening, it seemed like they were, so he continues with his ."A civilian came up to me and said that a zoo animal has gone missing..."

Private suddenly felt his heart skip a beat, He has a feeling he knows who that animal was. He looks up at Kowalski and Kowalski looks down at him and nods at him to let him know that he's got the same feeling. "Um... it's Rico... isn't, sir?" Private asked.

"Yeah, Private. He's missing." Skipper said. "So, it's our job to look for him." He picks up one of the sheets of paper and reads what he wrote for a split second, then crumples it up and tosses it on the floor. Kowalski and Private give him a confused look. "Let's just go find him, men." Skipper said, and with that order they quickly climb up the ladder and hop onto their island. They see Marlene standing near the enter. "Hey, guys..." She said, but it wasn't in her usual happy, go-lucky attitude.

"Marlene, what are you doing here?" Skipper asked.

"Sorry Skipper, I... couldn't sleep."

Private quickly walks up to Marlene. "Marlene! Rico's missing! You've got to help us!"

"That's why I kinda came here..." Marlene said. "Alright with you, Skipper?"

"Fine by me, Marlene." Skipper said. "We'll split into two teams to search the zoo. Kowalksi and Private, search the left side. Marlene, you're with me. Roll out!"

Kowalski and Private head towards the Chimp Habitat, they all around the habitat to look for anything that could be a clue. They didn't anything except for fur and banana peels. They move on to the Elephant Habitat to do the same thing again.

Marlene and Skipper are standing outside the Lemur Habitat, trying to think of a way to get this search done quicker. "Maybe we should split up for this one? It'll be quicker." Skipper said, and Marlene nodded in agreement. Skipper and Marlene did their best to stay quiet while searching for clues so that they didn't catch the attention of the lemurs. Now wasn't the time to be bothered by the mouthy ringtail.

"Anything?" Skipper asked as they walked out habitat and moved to the next one.

"No, nothing." Marelene said.

"He's gotta be around somewhere..." Skipper muttered to himself

Both teams continue to search the other habitats for Rico. It took them about an hour and a half, or so, to search the zoo. After a while, they decided to take a break and continue the mission later that day.

"I don't get it." Skipper said with his voice filled with a little bit of confusion and frustration. "How could anyone go mssing without any clues or a trail or something?"

"Well, it is possible he left by himself..." Kowalski pointed out.

"Yeah." Answers Skipper, "But why would he?"

Private walks up to Skipper. "Maybe he was angry and wanted to go for a walk or something." He said, then shakes his head when he realized that it wasn't a very convincing answer. "Who would go for a walk and not return?" Private asked himself.

"I agree, sir." Kowalski said. "I bet he'll be back soon... hopefully."

"He's probably stiil mad at this fight stuff..." Skipper muttered to himself, then turned to Marlene. "Do you have any idea where he would go?"

Marlene thinks about it. She couldn't really think of a place he would go if he was angry or just needed to get some alone time. All of a sudden, she remembered the flowers that were floating her pond. "I don't know Skipper, but I've got a question for you guys." The three penguins look at her, interested. "Did any one of you try to give me flowers or anything like that?"

The penguins look at each blankly, then look back at Marlene. "No, I don't think any of us did that, Marlene." Private said.

"Oh." Marlene said. "I asked because I found them floating in my pond- you think Rico has something to do with it?"

"It could..." Kowalski said. "It doesn't really explain the missing part though."

The room fills with silence. Private starts to feel a little uneasy and decides to break the uncomfortable silence by asking Skipper a question. "So, when are we going to go search again, Skippah?"

"After we figure out some stuff, Private." Skipper said. "Also, we should eat, or something like that, restore our whits."

"Roger that, Skippah." Private said, then went to the fridge while Kowalski, Skipper, and Marlene discuss the situation.

A/N- Yeah, I switched the habitats around a bit. Hope everyone's alright with that. FUN FACT (Well, not really "fun" but, it's a fact...) I was going to give Julien some lines in this chapter, but for some reason, my brain couldn't really think of lines for him... maybe I'll have lines for him in the next chapter. Anywho, feel free to review, next and final chapter will be coming soon :)


	11. Chapter 11

Auther Comments- Finally... FINALLY got this chapter done! Not the best chapter, but it's better than nothing. I think I said this was going to be the last chapter, it's not. I wanted to make this story last a little longer. I think it was a good decsion. Anyway feel free to read or review!

"Anything?" Skipper asked as they met up in front of the enterance of the zoo. Private and Kowalski slowly shook their heads. "Blast it!" Skipper shouted out, "He's not in the zoo, not anywhere in the park..." Kowalski felt like it was his turn to speak. "We'll find him, sir. No body can go missing without any explaination. He's probably at someplace that we're not thinking of." Skipper didn't answer, he just turned around and walked back into the zoo. Kowalski and Private followed seconds later.

"Take a break." Skipper said in a mumble, then walked to the table to make a cup of coffee. Kowalski and Private knew he was worn out, they worn out too. "How you holding up, sir?" Kowalski asked. Skipper didn't answer he just poured his coffee in to his cup and starred at it. "Skipper?" He quickly snapped his head up "What's that, Kowalski?" He asked, dark bags started to form around his half closed eyes. He needed sleep, they all did, but Skipper probably needed it more than anyone else. "You need to rest." Kowalski said.

Skipper sat down his cup down on the table and nodded his head in agreement, which kind of shocked Kowalski a little. He though he was going to say he didn't need it, or he didn't have time to rest. "Kowalski." Skipper said, "you're right.  
I do need some rest." He slowly walked up to his bunk. "You want me to cover you up, sir?" Private asked. Skipper didn't answerd, he just crawled into bed and closed his eyes. Kowalski pulled Private into the lab.

"Ok, Private... you need any rest at all?" Kowalski asked. "No, I'm good, Kowalski." Private answered. "Ok. Here's what we'll do then." Kowalski said, "right when Skipper falls asleep, we'll go out and do more searching. Search every corner, every crack, everywhere!" Private saw Kowalski grab a note pad started to scribble something on it. Probably a check list of some sort. "What about you, Kowalski?" Private asked. Kowalski didn't respond, he continued writing.

"Kowalski?" Private said to get his attention. Kowalski looked up from his note pad, he looked worn out. Small dark circles were starting to form underneath his eyes. "I think you need some rest." Private stated. Kowalski looked up at Private, his expression telling him that he was fine and didn't need any rest yet. Private gave him a stern look, telling Kowalski that he didn't beleive him. "Fine. Probably be best if I did get some rest." Kowalski said, admitting that he was worn out.

Kowalski and Private walked out of the lab. They saw that Skipper did fall asleep. "Wake me up in two hours, will you?" Kowalski asked. "Will do, Kowalski." Private responded. "I'll keep it down." Private told him. Kowalski laid in bed and literally passed out in bed. Private walked to the table and sat where Rico usually sat at. He thought about Rico. He hoped that he was safe wherever he was. That's what everyone was wishing for. Safe, not in danger in any way, and still breathing.

He looked back at Skipper. It looked like he was mouthing something, but it was hard to tell what he was saying. He wondered how Marlene was taking this. Maybe he should visit her...


	12. Chapter 12

"Marlene?" Private shyly asked has he stepped into the habitat. He saw Marlene lying on her bed, facing away from him. He saw her lying on her bed, facing away from him. Maybe he could talk to her later; he didn't want to disturb her at all. She just had to be exhausted, just like the others; she too had been up late looking for that specific penguin. Also, like the others, she had no luck either.

Private turned around to head back to his home, thinking he should probably get some rest also; they're probably going to pull off another all-nighter. "You need something, Private?" He heard the familiar, soft voice say. Private quickly turned back around to face Marlene, who looked completely out of it. "Did I wake you?" Private asked nervously. "No, not really…" Marlene responded, even though it looked like he did wake her up.

"Oh, good…" Private said, "I just wanted to came over and see if you're doing OK." Marlene eyes widened, her mouth started to quiver slightly, she just looked like she didn't feel good all of a sudden. "Uh, Marlene? Are you OK?" Private asked. "Oh, it's nothing…" Marlene paused for a little bit. Her eyes kept darting to the entrance, like she was expecting someone to walk in.

"I hope he's alright…" She whispered out, "I hope…" Private took a few steps closer to her. "I feel the same way." He told her, "Skippah and Kowalski tell me that everything gonna be alright and I should stop worrying and stop thinking about the negative stuff. But I don't know…" He stopped himself, realizing it looked like Marlene was falling asleep.

"You really should get some sleep." Private said in a soft voice. "Yeah, I know." She mumbled. "Hey, Private? Do you think we could spend some time alone tomorrow? It would be nice if I had someone to talk to for a little bit…" Would Skipper let Private do this? Probably. There's pretty much no reason for Skipper not allowing this. "We can do that." Private said with joy. Marlene smiled and laid her head back on her pillow, Private turned and walked back home.

Once he got inside, he looked at Skipper's bunk. He was still sleeping, but someone tossed a blanket on him. Kowalski wasn't in his bed; the lab door was slightly open. Kowalski was probably creating something in there. Private wanted to go check what Kowalski was making.

"Kowalski?" Private asked as he stepped inside. "Private!" Kowalski excitedly shouted, "I think I've invented something that'll help us find Rico!" "You did?" Private questioned. "Yes, I certainly did!" Kowalski quickly pulled out a pole, which looked like it was made out of cheap, rotton wood. Attached to it was a rare smoked salmon.

"That's... nice, Kowalski..." Private said, knowing what to think of his invention."What do you call it?" "Painus." Kowalski said as he slowly raised up a flipper that was covered in splitters. "Oh, by the way, did you toss a blanket on Skippah?" Private asked. Kowalski picked at the splitters in his flipper, "I don't think so..." he walked out of his lab to see, Private followed him. "Do you think?" "I'm not sure." Kowalski said, "


	13. Skipper's Dream

_Skipper's eyes opened up. Right away, he noticed that the room was covered in smoke. Probably caused by one of Kowalski's inventions... again. He slid off the bed and carefully walked to the door that led to the lab. The smoke was so thick, things that were two inches away were the only things he could see. After sucsessfully finding the door, without tripping or bumping into anything, he reached for the door handle, gave the door nudge, nothing. He tried again, this time with a little force. The door still didn't budge. "Kowalski, The door won't open! What's going on in there?" No answer. "Kowalski! I'm not playing around, open this door!" Again, no answer. Skipper let out a sigh of frustration. "Ok, you wanna act like a child? I'll treat you like one, then. You have three seconds to open this door..." A soft thump was heard inside the lab. "...One...two..." The thumping grew more intense. "...Three. Alright, Kowalksi, time's up." Skipper took a step back, trying to figure out a way to get this door open._

_Skipper tried the handle again, still didn't budge. Instead, the door cumpled into a million pieces. Skipper walked in, confused. "Kowalski?" the smoke lifted and Kowalski was nowhere in sight. There was something written on the walls. It looked like it was written in blood... 'You're responsible for this!' Skipper starred at the writing, not know what it was getting at. Responsible for what? Outside, there was paniced screams of children. Skipper quickly climbed up the ladder. Surprisingly, there were no children, no one was around... the whole zoo was empty... "What the hell is going on?" He looked over at the lemur habitat, he decided to check over. The sky had become gritty, making the zoo look like it has been abandoned for years. "Ring-Tail?" Just like what happened with Kowalski, there was no answer. This time, Skipper wasn't going to wait for an answer. He jumped inside the habitat, landing by Julien's throne. There was a soft dance beat coming from the bounce house. "Ring-tail...?" He carefully walked up to the bounce house, ready to defend himself just in case if something or someone jumped out._

_He saw Julien's boom box was upside down, on top of it was a crumpled note. Skipper read it, 'You're to blame!' Skipper threw the note down, then slid to Marlene's habitat. "Marlene!" Just like his team and the lemurs, no one was there. He looked all over the habitat for a note or some kind of hint or clue. He didn't find anything. Just Skipper was about to leave, a note fell in front of him. 'Central Park' was written on it. Skipper made his way over there, not stopping for anything. There was only one tree there., surrounded by dry leaves. A strong burst of wind came out of nowhere, knocking Skipper to the ground. Skipper looked up and saw the rotted corpse of Rico laying under the tree._


	14. Final Chapter

A/N- I would like to thank everyone who read/reviewed this here. Hope that each and everyone one of you enjoyed this, I had fun writing it. Maybe this will be revisited one day in the future, depends how much time I'll have. Once again, thank to all! Expect more from me in the coming days and months.

Skipper's eyes shot open and jumped out of bed and out of the habitat. "And how will 'Painius' help us defeat our enemies, again?" Private asked Kowalski as they walked out of the lab. "It's so simple, Private... just aim and throw, they'll back off." Private rolled his eyes. He wanted to tell Kowalski that this had to be the dumbest thing he has "Invented" in a long time. Private glance at the bunks. His mouth dropped open when he saw that Skipper wasn't there. "Kowalski! Kowalski!" Kowalski wasn't paying any attention, just stared at his stick, looking like he was quite proud of himself. "Kowalski!" Private yelled out with a slight jab to Kowalski's shoulder. "What?" Kowalski answered in annoyance. Private pointed to Skipper's bunk. "Good Golly Wolly!" Kowalski exclaimed, "Ok, you go search the park, I'll ask around the zoo to see if anyone saw him at all." Private nodded his head and made his way out the zoo. Kowalski thought about who he should go to first as he slowly climbed up the ladder. "Marlene."

"Marlene!" Kowalski shouted out as he saw her laying down on her bed. "Kowalski? What is it?" She asked. Kowalski stood in front of her, hunched over trying to catch his breath. "Skipper has gone missing now... please tell me you saw where he went." Marlene quickly got off her sun bed. "Yeah, I saw him head for the park." Kowalski turned around and motioned Marlene to follow. What they didn't notice is right after they left the zoo, Skipper jumped back into the penguin habitat. Skipper right away went back to bed to see if he could get more rest to calm his nerves. Skipper looked around the room to see if Kowalski or Private were around. He didn't see them, but what he did see silhouette standing in the corner of the room. Skipper wiped his eyes, to make sure he wasn't seeing random stuff. The figure still stood there after Skipper opened his eyes. "Rico...?" Skipper asked. A smile formed on the scarred penguin. Skipper got out of bed and slowly approached him consciously, just incase Rico decided to attack him. Skipper had no clue what to say, chills ran throughout his entire body. His throat automatically became dry. Not once did he feel this intimidated before...

"Rico... I know that... Skipper said said with long pauses, "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have-" Rico walked up to him, stretched out his arms for a hug. Skipper smiled slightly and moved closer to him. As soon Skipper and Rico were exactly one inch away from each other, Rico vanished away. Skipper stood back, realizing what just happened. "Rico?" He asked. "Sk'pper." he heard a voice come from behind. Skipper turned around and saw Rico standing at ladder, waving "Bye" at him, than vanished again. Skipper again closed his eyes and rubbed his head, trying to get the Rico images out of his head. Skipper opened his eyes, and saw Rico standing inches away from him. 'Oh, great... not over yet..." Skipper thought to himself, sooner or later he'll be paying a price. That price being emotional scarring. "Sorry." He heard Rico say. Skipper noticed Rico wasn't fading away or doing anything unusual... could this actually be the real Rico? Rico opened up for a hug, Skipper decided to give it a shot. He wrapped his arms around Rico waist. Sturdy, there was no give at all. He felt Rico hug back.

As They broke apart, Skipper could feel tears forming in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Rico..." Rico hugged Skipper again, telling him that everything's going to be alright. Second's later, Kowalski, Private, and Marlene jumped in. All three of them froze once they saw Rico standing next to , they all ran up to Rico, celebrating. "Where were you?" Private asked, with tears in his eyes. "Home." 


End file.
